Canadian Personal Finance Blog

Is there a right way to deal with the question of whether a parent should pay for a child’s post secondary education or whether the child should be left to pay for a University Education (and left with a large debt load in student loans)?

I think that is a pedagogical question since most of the times the parents financial situation is what dictates how much parents can help their children who want to get a post secondary education. I find it rare that parents who can help their children with their post secondary education, don’t help out in some fashion or another. I do know of some children who have refused help from their parents, out of pride or other reasons, but that is a rarity as well.

Some of the comments I have received have been very interesting, and I want to thank all of my reader’s who contributed (and those who de-lurked for me as well).

• A large number of comments agreed with my opening statement that it is very rare that parents who can help, choose not to help out their children who choose to try to get a University Education, it usually comes down to whether the parent is in a position to help or not.
• Michael James commented:
  

  I plan to pay for the basic necessities for my kids initially, and am hoping that they earn enough to take over by the end. I’m not paying for any extras, though. Meal plan, residence, books, and tuition are necessities.

  I think that point of view is a healthy view point, and fair. The extras he comments on, I think are part of the “College Lifestyle”, but then again, should a parent be expected to pay for them?

• Trent commented:
  

  And I would say emphatically, if the student in question never had a job during high school, then I think you would be doing a great disservice to them by allowing them to wait until they graduate college before punching their first clock.

  Which is very much the “Christian Work Ethic” espoused by many parents and grandparents. I think I agree with that comment as well.

  As a personal aside, I worked delivering Telephone Books one summer, loading trucks another summer and had a paper route from age 13, so on those days at University when I thought, I am going to chuck this whole thing and get a “real” job, I just remembered heaving bundles of Penthouse into the back of Grumman delivery trucks in 30 Celsius heat, and it was amazing how well it motivated me.

• Nerd Money Commented:
  

  I think one possible solution in terms of funding is that you loan out any funds you’ve set aside for their education. Set it up like a government funded loan where there’s no interest while they’re in school and then a modest interest rate payable to “The Bank of Mom and Dad” six months after graduation.

  Interesting concept, that I don’t know if I agree, but it is another way to teach the value of the money spent on the education (remember the infamous Singing Horse parable for possible pay back solutions).

• Steward’s of Wealth had another perspective:
  

  We don’t have kids. But one thing that we will teach them is how money works. One of our goals is to teach them how to invest. Hopefully, by the time they get to college, they’ll already have assets paying for tuition.

  Didn’t really say if they were going to help or not, and unless my kids find a penny stock to invest their funds, it’s less likely they’ll be able to pay off their tuition, but a worthwhile learning experience, although what happens if they invest badly (like I would have)?

• Nancy (aka Money Coach)’s comments really hit home for me:
  

  I was driven, got the A’s but it wasn’t nearly the experience it could have been if I had been funded. Then I graduated with a debt that took 10 long years to pay off, and significantly hampered my ability to get ahead (and most readers know the effect of compound interest = opportunity cost for me).

  I read that and understand more what the costs of Student Loans can do to newly graduated students.

• Amy (my de-lurker) comments were again very good:
  

  I graduated with a BA in 2003 with very little debt. I worked like crazy every summer (maybe taking 2-3 days for a camping excursion with friends every summer but that was it). I also worked most Saturdays during the school year. Seeing as I attended a Christian university here in Ontario, my earnings didn’t stretch as far as I would have liked, so I applied for DadSAP:) My parents were in a position to help me out, and I’m very grateful for that. I gave all I could towards my education and my parents paid the rest.

  DadSAP == The Bank of Mom and Dad, but it’s the same idea. Any child who works hard and realizes that as the oldest they need to help their parents because their brothers and sisters will want help too, is ok by me!

• Another interesting comment I got from an acquaintance who has many kids (more than 7 I believe) who told her kids, “You are going to University, Your Parents aren’t going to be able to Help, but You are going”. I think if kids are aware of the ground rules early, they are more likely to figure out what they need to do early on as well.

Thanks to all commenters and readers, this was an excellent bit of research for me to understand how other folks view this dilemma. I am lucky to have gotten my scholastic ride for free (as it were), and hope to help my kids as much we can.

Yesterday we talked about the valuable lessons that can be learned if a student pays for their education themselves, today we look at the alternate view that it is the parent’s duty (or a relatives duty) to pay for the student’s education.

Pros of Student Not Paying

• Student graduates with no debt load, and can start their working career with a clean financial slate. This is an incredibly valuable gift to any young person, and can put them far ahead of their peers financially.
• Whoever pays for this, does get to use the Tax Credit for tuition on their taxes (a stretch, but still kind of a pro).
• Student has more time to concentrate on their studies and not have to worry about their financial position and where their next meal might be coming from.

Cons of Student Not Paying

• The student has no concept of how much money their education cost, and how much work had to be done to allow them to go to school. In my case, I didn’t really realize the hard work that both my parents did to give me the luxury of not having to worry about paying for my education, until I had kids of my own.
  • Another underlying thematic premise of this journal that I really didn’t realize how hard my parents worked, until I had kids of my own.
• Lack of pride can happen, and a lack of drive is a derivative of this. If there was no “sweat equity” invested in the education, how does the student value their accomplishment?

Is either methodology the correct one?

Thus far I have had some very insightful comments from my readers, so tomorrow I think I’ll have a look at the comments and give my opinions in this area as well (as a Student who had parents who paid for the education (I paid for the partying mostly)).

Keep those comments coming, I want to hear your opinions, or even your stories, this topic is important to discuss.

This is a topic that my family has been talking about, and I suspect this is not just a one post topic, so it may stretch out over the week.

In my case I was very lucky in that my parents paid for my education, and I graduated (in 1986) with no debts (which is depressing knowing that all of the debt I carry now is of my own making, but that topic is really an underlying thematic premise in this journal, so we’ll leave that one aside for now).

My parents and many friends of mine, had to pay for their own education, or finance their education themselves at least. What are the pros and cons of all of this:

Pros of Having Child Pay for Education

• A sense of ownership and responsibility can be instilled in the student. If the student is the one who has paid for something, the student is much more likely to value their education that much more.
• A higher degree of pride in the accomplishment of “doing it yourself”, and being self-made. This may not necessarily be true all the time, but it can be a powerful motivational factor in later life. Knowing you can accomplish goals is important, and this is a very large goal.
• At 18, this child is learning the value of money and the value of the education they are earning. Of the people I know that “did it themselves” they have a very good understanding of money and also how to live on a budget.
• Co-operative programs are available at many Universities and this can be a way to pay for an entire education (or most of it) and they get worthwhile job related experience at the same time.
• If a student takes care of their own school expenses, they are not burdening their family with these costs. This can be a point of pride (and is for a lot of the people I know who paid their own way).

Cons of Having Child Pay for Education

• Students graduating with crushing debt loads, which will drag on their early adult lives. These debts can cause a great deal of consternation and angst in young people’s lives. Sometimes these debts cause a sandy bedrock to build upon, causing more issues later in life as well (financially).
• If a child has to have a part time job during school, can they truly concentrate on school full time?
• A degree can take longer, if there is a need to do a part time job, and thus not be able to take a full course load (or worse, your job causes you to fail courses). Longer period of education, means more costs, means more loans?
• Can the student truly experience the University experience if they are constantly worried about money? (some might argue that in fact, that point is part of the entire University experience (I tell stories of Kraft Dinner being 4 boxes for $1.00, when I was at school)).

So is it better to help or pay for your kids post secondary education? Let’s ask tomorrow.